Revision as of 10:01, 20 April 2009

Terms of Service

Acceptance of Terms

The Freecycle Network™ provides online resources, including free gift-item postings, and various email and board posting services, (referred to hereafter as "the Service") subject to the following Terms of Use ("Terms"), which may be updated by The Freecycle Network from time to time. The Freecycle Network will provide notice of materially significant changes to the Term by posting notice on The Freecycle Network site. You can review the most current version of the Terms at Terms of Service. By using the Service in any way, you are agreeing to comply with these Terms. In addition, when using particular Freecycle Network services, you agree to abide by any applicable posted guidelines for all Freecycle Network services, which may change from time to time. Should you object to any term or condition of these Terms, any guidelines, or any subsequent modifications thereto or become dissatisfied with The Freecycle Network in any way, your only recourse is to immediately discontinue use of The Freecycle Network.

Content

You understand that all postings, messages, text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, or other materials ("Content") posted on, transmitted through, or linked from the Service are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. More specifically, you are entirely responsible for all Content that you post, email or otherwise make available via the Service. You understand that The Freecycle Network does not control, and is not responsible for Content made available through the Service, and that by using the Service, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent, inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise objectionable. Furthermore, The Freecycle Network site and Content available through the Service may contain links to other websites, which are completely independent of The Freecycle Network. The Freecycle Network makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site. Your linking to any other websites is at your own risk. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, that you may not rely on said Content, and that under no circumstances will The Freecycle Network be liable in any way for any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed or otherwise made available via the Service. You acknowledge that The Freecycle Network does not pre-screen or approve Content, but that The Freecycle Network shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to refuse, delete or move any Content that is available via the Service, for violating the letter or spirit of the Terms or for any other reason. Should you be a moderator of a local group, you agree to abide by all Terms as well as the rules noted in bold on Freecycle.org within the FAQ section. Should you not do so, you will be asked to step down and remove yourself from the role of moderator and/or owner of the local Freecycle group. The local members are Freecycle members to which you volunteer to provide moderating services as a steward.

Privacy and Information Disclosure

The Freecycle Network has established a Privacy Policy to explain to users how their information is collected and used, located at Privacy Statement. Your use of The Freecycle Network website or the Service signifies acknowledgement of and agreement to our Privacy Policy. You further acknowledge and agree that The Freecycle Network may, in its sole discretion, preserve or disclose your Content, as well as your information, such as email addresses, IP addresses, timestamps, and other user information, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: comply with legal process; enforce these Terms; respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third-parties; or protect the rights, property, or personal safety of The Freecycle Network, its users or the general public.

Conduct

You agree not to post, email, or otherwise make available Content:

• that impersonates any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a The Freecycle Network employee, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
• that is false, deceptive, misleading, deceitful, misinformative, or constitutes "bait and switch";
• that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party, or Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships;
• that constitutes or contains "affiliate marketing", "link referral code", "junk mail", "spam", "chain letters", "pyramid schemes", or unsolicited commercial advertisement;
• that constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation if:
  • Posted in areas of The Freecycle Network sites
  • eMailed to The Freecycle Network users who have requested not to be contacted about other services, products or commercial interests;
• that constitutes posting essentially the same item or service to several local groups simultaneously;
• that includes links to commercial services or web sites;
• that advertises any illegal services or the sale of any items the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by applicable law, including without limitation items the sale of which is prohibited or regulated by law;
• that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
• that disrupts the normal function of the site via an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Service, or that otherwise negatively affects other users' ability to use the Service; or
• that employs misleading email addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of Content transmitted through the Service.

Additionally, you agree not to:

• contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted;
• "stalk" or otherwise harass anyone;
• collect personal data about other users for commercial or unlawful purposes;
• transmit through the service any unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable material or any kind or nature;
• use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from the Service - exception is made for internet search engines (e.g. Google) and non-commercial public archives (e.g. archive.org) that comply with our robots.txt file;
• purposefully post Content in a irrelevant category or city, repeatedly post the same or similar Content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; or
• attempt to gain unauthorized access to The Freecycle Network's computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, the Service or The Freecycle Network website.

No Spam Policy

You understand and agree that sending unsolicited email advertisements to The Freecycle Network email addresses or through The Freecycle Network computer systems, which is expressly prohibited by these Terms, will use or cause to be used servers located in Arizona. Any unauthorized use of The Freecycle Network computer systems is a violation of these Terms and certain federal and state laws. Such violations may subject the sender and his or her agents to civil and criminal penalties.

Limitations on Service

You acknowledge that The Freecycle Network may establish limits concerning use of the Service, including the maximum number of days that Content will be retained by the Service, the maximum number and size of postings, email messages, or other Content that may be transmitted or stored by the Service, and the frequency with which you may access the Service. You agree that The Freecycle Network has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any Content maintained or transmitted by the Service. You acknowledge that The Freecycle Network reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue the Service (or any part thereof) with or without notice, and that The Freecycle Network shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Service.

Termination of Service

You agree that The Freecycle Network, in its sole discretion, has the right (but not the obligation) to delete or deactivate your account, block your email or IP address, or otherwise terminate your access to or use of the Service (or any part thereof), immediately and without notice, and remove and discard any Content within the Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, if The Freecycle Network believes that you have acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the Terms. Further, you agree that The Freecycle Network shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Service. Further, you agree not to attempt to use the Service after said termination. Sections 2, 4, 6 and 9-13 shall survive termination of these Terms.

Dealings with Organizations and Individuals

Your interactions with organizations and/or individuals found on or through the Service, including arrangement and delivery of goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such organizations and/or individuals. You agree that The Freecycle Network shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings.

If there is a dispute between participants on this site, or between users and any third party, you understand and agree that The Freecycle Network is under no obligation to become involved. In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users, you hereby release The Freecycle Network, its officers, employees, volunteers, agents and successors in rights from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such disputes and / or our service. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which, if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor."

Proprietary Rights

The Service is protected to the maximum extent permitted by copyright laws and international treaties. Content displayed on or through the Service is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation, pursuant to copyrights laws, and international conventions. Any reproduction, modification, creation of derivative works from or redistribution of the Sites or the collective work is prohibited. Copying or reproducing the sites or any portion thereof to any other server or location for further reproduction or redistribution is prohibited. You further agree not to reproduce, duplicate or copy Content from the Service, and agree to abide by any and all copyright notices displayed on the Service. You may not decompile or disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover any source code contained in the Service. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any aspect of the Service. All portions of the Freecycle.org site are copyright 2004 by The Freecycle Network. Although The Freecycle Network does not claim ownership of content that its users post, by posting Content to any public area of the Service, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to The Freecycle Network an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute said Content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, said Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses (through multiple tiers) of the foregoing.

Disclaimer of Warranties

YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE AND THE SERVICE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" OR "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE FREECYCLE NETWORK DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, ACCURACY, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE AND THE SERVICE. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE FREECYCLE NETWORK DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR OTHER SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR POSTED ON THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE OR THE SITES OR SERVICE, OR ACCESSED THROUGH ANY LINKS ON THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE FREECYCLE NETWORK DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE OR THE SERVICE. Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you insofar as they relate to implied warranties.

Limitations of Liability

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL THE FREECYCLE NETWORK BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (EVEN IF THE FREECYCLE NETWORK HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM ANY ASPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM USE OR MISUSE OF THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE OR THE SERVICE, FROM INABILITY TO USE THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE OR THE SERVICE, OR THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, MODIFICATION, ALTERATION, OR TERMINATION OF THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE OR THE SERVICE. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF OTHER SERVICES OR PRODUCTS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE FREECYCLE NETWORK SITE. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In some jurisdiction, limitations of liability are not permitted. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing limitation may not apply to you.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold The Freecycle Network, its officers, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, assigns, directors, officers, agents, service providers, suppliers and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs, made by any third party due to or arising out of Content you submit, post or make available through the Service, your use of the Service, your violation of the Terms, your breach of any of the representations and warranties herein, or your violation of any rights of another.

Rating system:

Only the members involved in a transaction may post a rating. Rating system is associated with a specific gifting transaction. You agree to accurately describe and be truthful in your transaction. You may at no time be slanderous, rude, vulgar or otherwise derogatory of another member. Freecycle is not responsible for user-generated content. Ratings are limited to a non-textual checkbox for show / no show as applies to the intended recipient of an item or service.

General Information

The Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and The Freecycle Network and govern your use of the Service, superceding any prior agreements between you and The Freecycle Network. The Terms and the relationship between you and The Freecycle Network shall be governed by the laws of the State of Arizona without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and The Freecycle Network agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Pima, Arizona. The failure of The Freecycle Network to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Service or the Terms must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on this document. Please contact us at info@freecycle.org.